When I heard they were making this film I thought why? How could it compete with the well loved, classic family comedy. With fond memories of the original series I went to see this with no great expectations.
initially. I was pleasantly surprised, this looked to be a good film. What rapidly became apparent, was how weak were the script and plot.
After 30 minutes you pretty much have the whole plot sussed. There are no surprises. (Unlike the original series)
It's not terrible. There are plenty of chuckles (not guffaws)
The cast generally do a commendable job. Mainwaring and Godfrey add some good one liners and comedy generally. Jones is certainly as good as Arthur Lowe and I thought Gambon was a lot better than the original Godfrey.
Catherine Zeta Jones is also surprisingly good.
Corporal Jones I found a rather lustre character and rather immasculated compared to Clive Dunn's portrayal, particularly on revealing he'd only ever been in the catering corps. I also found Walker was rather just a black market 'spiv' stereotype
Hodges, Mainwaring's arch rival, was there, but only as a token character, so made the part pointless.
What lets the film down is it descends into farsical, childish slapstick nonsense. The humour of 'Mr Bean' does not work for 'Dads Army'. (The Mr Bean film is one of the writers previous credits). Children would find it funny, but I suspect most adults and particularly those with fond memories of the original, will find it rather crass (compared to the original)
At the finale, Germans have landed from a U-Boat onto a beach to collect secret agent Zeta Jones.
The platoon is pinned down by these Germans who have a machine gun.
W.A.G.s (wifes & girlfriends) turning up in uniform on a cliff top with guns. (including a winchester) to shoot at Germans and save the platoon
Frazer lifts his kilt to show his bare backside to the Germans ? WTF!
The very end where Mainwaring comes out of the sea carrying Zeta Jones, did remind me of how often Mainwaring for all his pompous bungling, did often in the original series, di come up trumps. However, how the film sets this up is the foolish buffoonery of Mr Bean.
Did I hear right? two old ladies phoned a company in Paris (in occupied France) to establish the bona fides of Zeta Jones and found she came from Berlin! (Despite the fact it was glaringly obvious from almost the start of the film she was the secret agent MI5 were looking for. )
It was also disappointing that they gave two original cast members such small parts.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But this was very much a dumbed down imitation.
I went with no great expectations, but came away thinking, with a decent script this cast could have pulled it off.
What made the original series a classic was a much more sophisticated humour. Based on real experiences and events. In the final analysis you always felt an underlying respect for the platoon. Because you knew, should the Germans invade, our heroes would stand and fight, even if they only had pitchforks.
The mistake the film made was to reduce it down to the level of Mr Bean.
initially. I was pleasantly surprised, this looked to be a good film. What rapidly became apparent, was how weak were the script and plot.
After 30 minutes you pretty much have the whole plot sussed. There are no surprises. (Unlike the original series)
It's not terrible. There are plenty of chuckles (not guffaws)
The cast generally do a commendable job. Mainwaring and Godfrey add some good one liners and comedy generally. Jones is certainly as good as Arthur Lowe and I thought Gambon was a lot better than the original Godfrey.
Catherine Zeta Jones is also surprisingly good.
Corporal Jones I found a rather lustre character and rather immasculated compared to Clive Dunn's portrayal, particularly on revealing he'd only ever been in the catering corps. I also found Walker was rather just a black market 'spiv' stereotype
Hodges, Mainwaring's arch rival, was there, but only as a token character, so made the part pointless.
What lets the film down is it descends into farsical, childish slapstick nonsense. The humour of 'Mr Bean' does not work for 'Dads Army'. (The Mr Bean film is one of the writers previous credits). Children would find it funny, but I suspect most adults and particularly those with fond memories of the original, will find it rather crass (compared to the original)
At the finale, Germans have landed from a U-Boat onto a beach to collect secret agent Zeta Jones.
The platoon is pinned down by these Germans who have a machine gun.
W.A.G.s (wifes & girlfriends) turning up in uniform on a cliff top with guns. (including a winchester) to shoot at Germans and save the platoon
Frazer lifts his kilt to show his bare backside to the Germans ? WTF!
The very end where Mainwaring comes out of the sea carrying Zeta Jones, did remind me of how often Mainwaring for all his pompous bungling, did often in the original series, di come up trumps. However, how the film sets this up is the foolish buffoonery of Mr Bean.
Did I hear right? two old ladies phoned a company in Paris (in occupied France) to establish the bona fides of Zeta Jones and found she came from Berlin! (Despite the fact it was glaringly obvious from almost the start of the film she was the secret agent MI5 were looking for. )
It was also disappointing that they gave two original cast members such small parts.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But this was very much a dumbed down imitation.
I went with no great expectations, but came away thinking, with a decent script this cast could have pulled it off.
What made the original series a classic was a much more sophisticated humour. Based on real experiences and events. In the final analysis you always felt an underlying respect for the platoon. Because you knew, should the Germans invade, our heroes would stand and fight, even if they only had pitchforks.
The mistake the film made was to reduce it down to the level of Mr Bean.